After Five Years In My Role We’re Hiring My Replacement. Are You Interested?

November 17th, 2013 marks my 5-year anniversary since joining TELUS; an organization where I’ve held the position Head of Learning and Collaboration throughout the past half decade of employment.

Over the course of those five years I’ve witnessed a remarkable evolution in the culture, not the least of which is the increase in employee engagement … from 53% to 81%(Editor’s Note: now 83% as of Nov 8, 2013) and denoted by AON Hewitt as in “the top 1% globally“. In 2013, TELUS was inducted into Canada’s 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures Hall of Fame, a distinction it shares with only five other organizations, and an event I attended oozing pride.

If you’re reading this, you may know a bit about me and my passion for three things:

connected and open-based leadership;

pervasive learning; and

collaborative technologies.

These are the central themes to Flat Army, of course, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise. It’s this Venn diagram that has made up my overarching work over the past five years at TELUS. I am so deeply proud of the entire TELUS team — inclusive of the Learning and Collaboration team — and what has been accomplished. It’s a culture prototype for many organizations, although I am obviously biased.

Amongst other key ingredients like the TELUS community programs and the “give where we live” philosophy, the internal ‘Bravo’ recognition program, the TELUS Work Styles initiative (proving a flexible work style can be successful in an $11 billion organization) … I’m not sure there is a better organization to work for on the planet.

Which is why we’re hiring my replacement.

Odd, I know.

Why change?

After five years, TELUS has decided to not only replace me — where the successful candidate will be expected to continue to work with the entire TELUS team, fixated on the mission of keeping the organization at as high a level of engagement as is possible — it is venturing into new territory.

And if you thought I was leaving TELUS, dream on.

At some point in the very near future, TELUS will be launching an initiative known as “TELUS Transformation Office” (or TTO for short) where it intends to help organizations who might be seeking assistance with the various aspects of organizational culture change, adoption, transformation, and so on. Whether an organization is looking to improve its overarching leadership model, career development strategy, flexible work style/telecommuting options, digital/collaborative technology readiness, learning model or even its onboarding and induction programs … TELUS will begin providing various services to help.

What has this got to do with me?

In a nutshell, I’m being provided the opportunity to lead it. I appreciate various conversations I’ve had with many people — from job opportunities to career advice — but it lead me to staying at TELUS and launching a new venture.

Which is why we’re hiring my replacement. I get to continue being a ‘practicing futurist‘, speak, write books/articles/etc and (now) help other organizations who might want or need some help.

If you are interested in becoming the Head of Learning and Collaboration at TELUS, check out this posting (and yes, I will still be involved in internal matters at TELUS, and I most certainly will provide mentoring and counsel to the new gal/guy)

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” Winston Churchill